The Home of the Peak Performance Mindset

Learned Happiness? Can It Be So?

Skip Weisman (Weisman Success Resources, Inc.) — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 15:40:00 -0600

How timely my post yesterday on Emotional Mastery? There was an article in the NY Times Magazine yesterday about how the field of 'positive psychology' is becoming a big thing on real college campuses and is now being studied for validity by psychologists.

It's a great story on the 'power of positive thinking,' a philosophy which has been around for decades and maybe even centuries, although Norman Vincent Peale started that phrase, I guess.

Anyway, here's the link to the article for anyone interested:

NY Times Magazine - "Happiness 101"

HAPPY READING!

ENJOY!

The #1 Skill to Guarantee Success in Business & Life

Skip Weisman (Weisman Success Resources, Inc.) — Sun, 07 Jan 2007 15:37:03 -0600

As we all look to get off to a fast start in 2007 and set the stage for a good year personally and professionally, I believe there is really only one skill we all need to master to really become successful.

This skill permeates every facet of our life and business and once mastered will virtually guarantee our long-term happiness and success. This skill is the foundation of everything else.

What is this skill?

It's 'Emotional Mastery.'

What do I mean by 'Emotional Master?'

I define 'Emotional Mastery' as the ability in any situation to adjust your thoughts to empower you to respond proactively and in a way that support your best interests while respecting all others. It is also the ability to maintain a positive mindset at all times.

This is the key to success and happiness in life and business. You know that life is a series of mountains, valleys and missiles and whenever we're on top of a mountain and thinking things are great, a missile is going to come at us and knock us off into a valley. How deep that valley is and how long it takes us to climb out of it, will determine our levels of success and happiness.

Learning 'Emotional Mastery' will allow you to maintain your place on top of the mountains longer, to anticipate the missiles and sidestep them when the come, and to ensure you are knocked into only shallow valleys and allow you to more easily climb out of them.

How would you rate your level of 'Emotional Mastery'?
(scale of 1-10, 10=Emotional Master / 1=Emotional Mess)

Best Wishes for a Great New, New Year!

Skip Weisman (Weisman Success Resources, Inc.) — Sun, 31 Dec 2006 18:23:37 -0600

Tp all AR acquaintances with whom I've begun to build a relationship with and all those with whom I am waiting to get to know, best wishes for an outstanding 2007!

On my list of the things I'm most grateful that 2006 brought into my business and my life is this outstanding community of success oriented professionals.

Here's to a new year of personal and professional growth. Commit to improving just 1% each day and you will be twice as good in 70 days! Not a bad resolution. Imagine if you were to select 1 area every two months to improve at that level, where could you be on 12/31/07?

Where will you commit to improving that 1% a day for the first 70 days of 2007?

Here's to a great new year for all!

How's Comfortable is Your Comfort Zone? I Just Blew Up, Mine

Skip Weisman (Weisman Success Resources, Inc.) — Tue, 19 Dec 2006 13:08:44 -0600

Been away from AR for awhile as I was preparing for this past weekend. Wow, what a weekend. If I had a comfort zone going into it. It got blown up the past three days.

I just spent the weekend in Atlanta, Georgia working on my presentation skills with a real pro.
What a comfort zone busting experience that was.

For two days I stood in front of a video camera in my coach's living room and had everything
from my posture to my program content turned upside down, inside out and backwards.
It wasn't a place for the faint of heart, or an ego.

But, what came out of this experience has changed me forever. I will never be the same. My comfort zone has expanded and my belief in my value to the world and to this community has exploded, so look out. Don't worry what I mean just yet, you'll be learning more about that as the details evolve.

The true purpose of this post is to ask you about your comfort zone. I believe our comfort is the number one enemy of achieving unlimited success.

What have you done lately to stretch your comfort zone?
If you can't come up with something automatically, I challenge you do decide on doing one thing
between now and New Year's Day that will stretch you. I guarantee it will make you a better person
and a better professional.

So, to reward those that really go for it and do something different, our panel of judges here at the Business Achievement Gym will vote on the best story (it better be real 'cause we'll be calling for verification). Post your comfort zone busting activity and its results below.

Success or Failure? The Choice Is Yours - Answer My Trivia Question & Win a Prize

Skip Weisman (Weisman Success Resources, Inc.) — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 21:52:15 -0600

There are three things I listen to when driving in my car. Some of you probably have some of your favorite things, these are my top three:

1) Personal/Professional Development CDs;
2) Bruce Springsteen Live concert recordings;
3) NPR, National Public Radio

I would say I balance my time between the three pretty well. Today I decided to revisit an old CD series I've had for about 6 years, Napoleon Hill's "The Science of Personal Achievement."

It's a 5 CD set so it will take a lot of driving over the next week or so for me to go through it all again, but it's really great stuff. It's old recordings of Hill's seminars and radio shows where he shares what he learned by studying for 20 years the most successful people of the early 20th century.

On this recording Hill identified 3 primary causes of failure and I'm wondering if anyone else knows what they are. I'm sure each of us has our own theory on what creates success or failure, and I'd love to hear those, too.

But I'd like to offer a challenge to everyone. I have a product called "End Procrastination NOW!" is an audio CD and e-workbook that i sell on my website for $47.

Whoever provides the correct answer to the question, "What did Napoleon Hill identify as the 3 Primary Causes of Failure?" will win my CD workshop & e-book (a $47 value) as a prize. Answer in the comment section below and if there is more than one correct responder, I'll have a random drawing for the prize.

Good Luck!

Emotional Mastery is the Key to Long-Term Business Success

Skip Weisman (Weisman Success Resources, Inc.) — Sun, 10 Dec 2006 21:35:16 -0600

One thing my professional baseball career taught me was not to get to high when things are going well, and never get too down when you're in the midst of a slump. Emotional swings are not conducive to long term success and long term sanity.

The same is true in business. That's why one of the 8-Essential Strategies of the Business Achievement Gym is 'Emotional Mastery & Breaking Through F.E.A.R.' Each month in the program we focus on one of the 8-Essential Strategies, and this month members of my coaching program are focusing on it.

I believe F.E.A.R. (an acronym for busting through fear - False Evidence Appearing Real) is one of the key emotions that prevents us from achieving the highest levels of success. It definitely stifles peak performance.

Those of us who can master our emotions and especially our fear best will end up being most successful.

One component of fear is assessing risk. Most of us don't do it well. My wife saw this article in Time Magazine this week about how human beings assess risk, it's quite enlightening and interesting - check it out:

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1562978-1,00.html

Enjoy, let me know what you think.

Are you the master of your emotions? Or do your emotions master you?

Is Procrastination Holding You Back? Here's Help!

Skip Weisman (Weisman Success Resources, Inc.) — Fri, 08 Dec 2006 21:02:32 -0600

At the encouragement of Jessica Hughes, Craig Schiller and Ginger Sala, I'm writing this blog regarding perfectionism and procrastination.

Craig posted a question on his blog asking how much time people spend in ARand if they can quantify an ROI on that investment in time and it got me thinking.

One thing everyone, including myself, must guard against is that this type of site can become a very addictive place and can become a form of procrastination that keeps us from doing real business activity.

We can get lulled into thinking we're doing stuff to improve ourselves and our business, when in reality we are coming here because its comfortable, friendly and we don't really face the rejection we may subject ourselvles to by making the calls and putting ourselves in the position we need to, to really build our business.

I know this because I guard against it every day. When you come to AR, do so wtih a direct purpose and plan in mind. Set a time limit. Get in, Get Out and Get something of value every time but don't lurk around and surf endlessly.

Procrastination is a killer of our hopes and dreams, its a killer of our self-confidence, self-esteem and self-worth and causes much undo stress. A few years ago I created a program to help business professionals with this issue, it's called, "End Procrastination NOW!" and perfectionism is really just a fear of failure and rejection and is another form of procrastination.

Just my two cents (or maybe 3-4 cents)...hmm, maybe this should be my next blog posting, thanks CRaig for stirring my thoughts on this subject...

Now, I know from working with both realtors and mortgage professionals that procrastination IS an issue for many. Therefore, I'd like to help, but I need your help. That's why I have created a Procrastination/Peak Performance Survey just for Active Rain members, for those of you who decide to take part in my survey, you will receive access to an hour-long radio interview on ending procrastination I gave last summer.

To access the survey, click here.

Once I get feedback on the key issues from the survey, I'll share the results so no one feels alone, and see if I can provide some strategies to help break through.

How Much Networking is Too Much?

Skip Weisman (Weisman Success Resources, Inc.) — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 22:31:00 -0600

I believe you can't do too much networking. You just never know who you will meet that needs your services.

Tonight, a colleague, friend and client called me about 4:55pm and asked me if I was going to our local Chamber's Holiday Business After Hours event fro 5-7pm. Fortunately, the event was about 5 minutes from my office, so I closed down for the day and headed over to meet him.

About halfway through the event a woman came up to me who I hadn't seen in about 5 years since I left my old position before I started my own consulting, training and coaching practice. She is now CEO of a local insurance agency with 4 locations and 35 employees. We reconnected for a few minutes, I told her what I was doing now and she told me that I should give her a call and send her my stuff.

I'm going to call her and set up an appointment for next week and see where it goes. This is the second time in 7 days that two people, whom I haven't spoken to in a long time, have invited me to meet with them to see how I can help.

This tells me I'm not doing enough marketing to my database. I do cull my database and call contacts I haven't spoken to in awhile and it always generates opportunities. Obviously, with these two contacts I made value judgements that they weren't prospects. Boy, was I wrong.

The only thing that brought me back in contact with each of them was a networking event, one directly and one indirectly.

Two lessons, 1) you can't do too much networking, and 2) you can never do enough re-connecting with the people who you know and who know you and see how you can help.

Who haven't you spoken to in a while that the holiday season would make a perfect excuse to reconnect and see where it goes? I'd challenge you to make a list of at least 12 of these contacts and commit to getting in touch within the next two weeks prior to the Christmas/New Year's Holiday week and see what happens.

Who's going to take me up on the challenge and report back to me on their results?

In Sales - It's Not Just Questions & Listening, But How You Ask & How You Listen

Skip Weisman (Weisman Success Resources, Inc.) — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 13:12:17 -0600

I am overwhelmed by the comments to my blog posting yesterday about the sales mistake I almost couldn't get myself out of. The follow up today from that situation is they called me back wanting more specifics as to the topics for workshops I could offer their best referral sources. They are going to take those topics and survey their best customers and select one of them to get started in the first quarter of the year.

One thing to remember regarding questioning and listening is that you have to be careful in how you ask the questions. You must do so in a conversational and inquisitive tone, sort of like the old investigative TV detective 'Columbo' played by actor Peter Falk. You don't want to come across as interrogative and belligerent. It's definitely an art that we all get better at with practice, but only when we are cognizant of our actions and speech patterns.

I was able to save the situation because I believe I practiced something I've been trained to do in my Yoga classes for the last 8 years and that is to be able to be 'the witness' of my own actions while I'm in the moment. It definitely takes practice but I'm proud to have realized that I have the power to do this and to actually use it for some good.

You also need participate in 'active' listening, which means you are acknowledging what the other person is saying, and responding with reassurances and supportive comments to make them feel comfortable and to gain trust. You must do this in a sincere way and not in a way that is condescending or overt.

Key skills to learn and practice. I encourage the teams I work with to schedule time in their weekly sales meetings for role playing exercises with these skills as it is the only way to get better and its better to make mistakes and get feedback from a colleague than to do it with a prospect and lose the business.

One of the best things I ever did at a workshop was two months ago, when I volunteered in front of about 70 other colleagues to go up on the 'hot seat' in the front of the room for some role playing. It was great. I recorded it and have listened to a couple of times to take key pieces from it for application.

Housing Market vs. Our Reality

Skip Weisman (Weisman Success Resources, Inc.) — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 08:44:49 -0600

My wife and I are presently in negotiations for a new home. Everyday we are reading the local and regional newspapers about the slump in the housing market in the Northeast (we live in the Hudson Valley region of NY).

Today, again, another article in the NY Times, What Statistics on Home Sales Aren't Saying , about how prices are falling.

I tihnk we'll get our price, but now I'm concerned our price is too high even though its coming in at 10% less than the listing price, and about 7% less than the last accepted offer in a deal that didn't go through about 5 months ago. I'm a little disappointed we couldn't do better, but at the end of the day I think long-term this will turn out to be a good deal for us as we are expecting this to be our home for a long time.

Time will tell. We should know if our final offer is accepted later today.

Don't Make The Same Mistake I Made in A Sales Situation

Skip Weisman (Weisman Success Resources, Inc.) — Tue, 05 Dec 2006 20:40:55 -0600

Despite the fact that I teach and coach situational selling, I, too sometimes have to catch myself falling into old bad habits. It doesn't happen too often and these days I'm able to catch myself but it almost cost me dearly.

I was meeting with two women representing a mortgage company who were inquiring as to the type of programs I would recommend to help them build relationships with local realtors. They were interested in having me present some value-added workshops for realtors that would help them better market themselves.

Instead of focusing on the specific desired outcomes the women wanted to achieve by delving deeper into their present situation I found myself spewing my accolades. I told them about the two workshops I delivered last year for the Association of Realtors and the other peak performance courses I've delivered to 4 local real estate offices. I even told them my half-day workshop rate, at which they proclaimed "we don't have a budget anywhere near that!"

As soon as I heard that statement it knocked some sense into me as I realized I had lost control of the sales process. Immediately, I took a deep breath, sat back in my chair and said, "ladies, can I ask you a question?" This allowed me to get control back. I then asked them to tell me more about their present situation and about their best present relationships.

I then said, 'may I ask you another question? If you could increase the number of mortgages referred to you from your 10 best real estate customers by 25%, what difference would that make to your business?"

They both agreed it would be a significant increase in the business they write in 2007. I said, 'great, then wouldn't it make more sense to invest in those relationships and give them tools to help them build their business than to focus on trying to create new beginner level relationships with a massive number of realtors of whose business you know little about?"

They agreed that this new idea would definitely be an investment that was well worth my workshop fees.

The moral of the story is to always focus on the end value your customer will receive by working with you not about your accolades and how great you are and how many sales awards you've won, etc. What is the value you bring to your customers? What is the value your specific customer wants from you?

You can only learn that by asking lots of questions, and listening intently to the answers. Don't fall into the trap I almost couldn't get out of by talking too much about me and not asking enough of the right questions.

Two Tips To Tackle Time Management Challenges

Skip Weisman (Weisman Success Resources, Inc.) — Mon, 04 Dec 2006 20:41:33 -0600

The number one issue I'm asked to help realtors and mortgage professionals with is time management. I find there are two issues within the strategy of time management that you must address or be forever at the mercy of the clock you can never catch up with.

In order to apply these two tips you also need to understand that to really master your time management challenge, you have to change your entire belief about the topic. It's my belief that there is no such thing as 'time management.' I mean, think about it, there really are only two times each year when we truly manage time, 'spring forward and fall back,' for the switches to and from daylight savings time.

So, the first step is to shift your mindset from one of 'time management' to one of 'self-management.' It's about managing yourself, your priorities and your decisions. And, this brings me to the two tips.

Tip #1: Time is just like money. Just like you must invest your money in order to grow your finances, you must invest time in order to get more time. In order to get more time, you must first invest your time in planning your week at the beginning of it before you ever get started. You must plan your day before it gets started. Invest time in planning your days/weeks/months/years and I guarantee you will automatically find more time.

Tip #2: Run your business like its a real business, which means you must set clear boundaries for when your business will operate. Next to effectively planning the top concern I coach realtors on is setting boundaries. Too many realtors have no boundaries as to when their clients can call them. They give them the impression that they are always available. As such, they are run ragged by buyers who only want to see potential houses on their schedule. They allow sellers to call them at all hours. They are afraid to not answer their cell phone despite being in a meeting, or a showing because they are "committed to outstanding service."

If you want to have a life. You must learn how to set boundaries. Have a clear schedule of when your business is 'open,' and make decisions to work additional hours consciously based on those boundaries instead of just being at the whim of your clients.

If you'd like help with these two strategies e-mail me and I'll see what I can do.

Are You Working Your Sphere of Influence?

Skip Weisman (Weisman Success Resources, Inc.) — Mon, 04 Dec 2006 14:20:02 -0600

In response to my previous post Keith Jeppson wrote that 80% of his business is coming from his Sphere of Influence (SOI), yet he is still holding back from working that sphere for 'fear' that he'll be seen as just wanting them for their business.

This can be a slippery slope but not when done correctly. I bet if you evaluated your business that 80% of your business comes from 20% of your customers, the old Pareto Principle (i.e, 80-20 rule). As I wrote in my comment to Keith, you have to continue to focus on helping those in your SOI as well. The more you give the deeper you build that relationship and the more your SOI will look to help you.

In Robert Cialdini's book "Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion" he talks a lot about the 'Law of Reciprocity,' which strongly encourages those you help to find a way to help you as well. It is definitely a big factor in creating success.

Key to Success is Who You Know and How You Deliver

Skip Weisman (Weisman Success Resources, Inc.) — Sun, 03 Dec 2006 21:25:10 -0600

I had a discussion the other day after speaking to a group of college students about the power of relationships. I encouraged the students to build a lot of relationships and to never burn any bridges because, down the road, you'll never know when you may come across that person again.

I continue to be amazed by the whole 'Six Degrees of Separation' game. I realized recently that, in theory, I'm really only about 5 degrees from the President of the United States, although my connections on that path probably are not deep enough, yet, to get me any influence at the top. But, it's fun to play, anyway.

The old adage 'it's not what you know, it's who you know' to get ahead, only goes so far. Once you tap into 'who you know,' or if 'who you know' taps you, you better deliver because both of your reputations are on the line. I guess I've been fortunate and have delivered what was expected and more the times I've been tapped by those in my network. Something I'm very proud of. What about you?

Are you confident enough to tap into 'who you know' to get to the next level? If so, who are the first 3 people you would call that could make the biggest difference in your business?

Giver's Gain Philosophy Works Every Time - How Can You Use It?

Skip Weisman (Weisman Success Resources, Inc.) — Sat, 02 Dec 2006 15:17:06 -0600

Two weeks ago I was at a networking event and met a contractor who specializes in designing kitchens in high end homes. I asked him what a good referral and contact would be for him. He told me his best referral sources are architects.

How, I only know one architect in his region, but I hadn't spoken to him in about 2 1/2 years. But, I decided to offer to call him and make a connection, with no expectation for anything in return for myself, as I believe if I help enough people get what they want, I will get what I want. It's just how I operate as I know it will come back to me from one source or another.

Well, I was just amazed at how quickly it came back to me.

I made the call to my architect yesterday and we had a nice conversation in reconnecting for the first time in a long time. I explained the purpose of my call and he was open to speaking with this kitchen contractor and seeing how they could help each other.

At the end of the call my architect colleague asked me if I was still doing peak performance coaching. I said, "of course, its the foundation of what I do." He said, "I think I'd like to talk with you as I could use some help."

We set an appointment for this Tuesday so I can learn more about his situation and see if I can help him move his business forward more effectively.

So, folks, the morale of the story is to always, "do the right thing." Go out of your way to help others get what they want and need, and it WILL come back to you. It's always worked for me. Just make sure you are truly "giving with no expectation," and it works like magic.

Did you achieve your goals in 2006?

Skip Weisman (Weisman Success Resources, Inc.) — Thu, 30 Nov 2006 14:48:06 -0600

Based on the feedback I'm getting from those on my e-zine list of over 3,200, I'm going to guess that you did not meet all of your goals in 2006.

If you did meet all of your goals and you had a very successful year, congratulations, but this e-mail is not for you and you should ignore the free gift I'm giving away.

However, if you did not meet your goals this year, I'd like to help you. I've put together a 5 part mini-course that will help you start the new year off on the right foot. The course will ask a few key questions that when answered correctly, will help you create the best solution to getting a jump start to your new year.

I'll gift you this mini-course (valued at $79) if you do something for me. I'd like you to answer a
few simple questions within a one minute survey.

Please click on the link below and take one minute to give me your honest feedback:

www.BusinessAchievementGym.com/survey2006.shtml

When clicking on the link above, you will be claiming your free 5 part report that I will
personally send you in order to help you create the best start to 2007 possible. Each part of the
mini-course will be delivered every 4 days because each part will help you build on the
previous part. Once you finish the mini-course, you'll know exactly what to do in January to start building a very successful year.

Thanks in advance for helping me with this survey.

'Til next time, wishing you much success...

Skip Weisman
Business Achievement Expert
http://www.businessachievementgym.com/

PS: Don't forget to claim your gift by clicking on the link below:
www.BusinessAchievementGym.com/survey2006.shtml